Fabrication of air‐conditioning tussah silk with capric–stearic eutectic mixture for effective energy storage and thermal‐regulatory applications

Abstract

Under the urgent demand of effective energy-storage and thermal-regulatory textile fabrics, the air-conditioning tussah silk as a new arrival is endowed with this excellent property by coupling with the phase change material of capric acid-stearic acid eutectic mixture. In addition, the facile pad-dry-cure technique used with the assistance of ultrasonic waves efficiently avoided the problems of the sophisticated process and low efficiency in traditional post-finishing methods with phase change microcapsules. With optimal preparation conditions, the resultant tussah silk exhibited a superior thermal reliability and thermoregulatory character along with a phase enthalpy of 31.80 J g −1 at a phase change temperature of 24.01 °C. Meanwhile, the tested air permeability, mechanical properties and washing fastness showed its favorable thermal and wear comfort. Benefitting from these admirable merits, this air-conditioning tussah silk with tunable heat storage and release performance could automatically respond to external temperature stimuli, finally contributing to practical application in intelligent protective garments. The intelligent bidirectional temperature-adjusting property corresponding to the efficient management of human skin temperature is beneficial for constructing a comfortable microclimate for the human body. In brief, our study provides a novel heat-storage and temperature-regulating textile with tussah silk as well as unique natural advantages by means of a simple preparation method.

Preparation and application of low temperature protection materials by Na2SO4·10H2O/PS phase change microcapsules

“…Ayan P [19], Xi L [20] applied the prepared PCM to fabrics and tested its temperature regulation performance through heating/cooling cycles. According to the requirements of the human body for thermal comfort, protective materials with a phase change temperature of 23.0∼26.0 °C can enhance human comfort and are easy to recover after phase change [21][22][23][24]. The latent heat value of encapsulated salt hydrate is higher than that of encapsulated organic PCMs [25].…”